Complete Slack subpoena response guide: 8-step process, timelines (30-40 days), objections, costs ($15K-$100K), common mistakes, and tools. For legal teams, IT admins, and compliance officers.
You've just received a subpoena demanding Slack data. Whether you're in-house counsel, IT administrator, or outside litigation counsel, you need to respond quickly and correctly to avoid sanctions, contempt, or spoliation claims.
This guide walks you through the entire Slack subpoena response process, from the moment you receive the legal request through final production, with specific timelines, technical requirements, and common pitfalls to avoid.
A Slack subpoena is a legal order requiring an organization (or Slack itself) to produce Slack workspace data—including messages, files, channels, direct messages, and metadata—for use in litigation, investigations, or regulatory proceedings.
Slack subpoenas typically request:
Key distinction: Subpoenas can be served on your organization (to produce data you control) or on Slack Technologies, Inc. directly (to obtain data from Slack's servers). Most subpoenas are served on the organization that controls the workspace.
Issued in civil litigation (employment disputes, contract cases, IP theft, etc.). These follow Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 or state equivalents.
Response timeline: Typically 14-30 days, depending on jurisdiction and subpoena language.
Scope: Usually targeted to specific custodians, date ranges, and keywords.
Issued by prosecutors or grand juries in criminal investigations. These have stricter timelines and confidentiality requirements.
Response timeline: Can be as short as 7 days; sometimes immediate compliance required.
Scope: Often broader; may include all workspace data or specific investigative targets.
CRITICAL: Criminal subpoenas may include non-disclosure orders prohibiting you from notifying subjects of the investigation.
Your organization receives a subpoena for Slack data about a third party (former employee, vendor, customer) involved in litigation where you're not a party.
Response timeline: 14-30 days typical.
Obligations: You must produce relevant data but can assert objections (burden, privacy, privilege) on behalf of the third party.
Issued by government agencies (SEC, DOJ, EEOC, state attorneys general) during investigations.
Response timeline: Varies by agency; often 10-30 days.
Scope: Can be extremely broad; compliance often mandatory with limited objection rights.
1. Log receipt of the subpoena
2. Notify key stakeholders immediately
3. Preserve all potentially relevant Slack data
Even if you plan to object to the subpoena, you must preserve data from the moment you receive it. Failure to preserve = spoliation risk.
How to preserve:
Pro tip: If you're on Enterprise Grid, use Slack's native legal hold feature. If not, export and preserve data immediately using Slack's export tools.
Review the scope of the request:
Identify potential issues:
Calculate compliance burden:
You have the right to object to subpoenas on various grounds. Common objections for Slack subpoenas:
Argument: The request is too broad given the volume of Slack data, cost of review, and lack of relevance.
Example: "Producing all Slack messages for 100 employees over 3 years would require reviewing 2.5 million messages at a cost exceeding $150,000, which is disproportionate to the needs of this $50,000 contract dispute."
Solution: Propose narrower scope (specific custodians, shorter date range, targeted keywords).
Argument: Slack channels may contain attorney-client privileged communications or attorney work product.
Example: Private Slack channel "#legal-advice" between employees and in-house counsel.
Solution: Produce non-privileged data; create privilege log for withheld items.
Argument: Slack data contains sensitive personal information, trade secrets, or third-party confidential data.
Example: Employee health discussions, customer proprietary information, unreleased product plans.
Solution: Request protective order; redact sensitive information; produce under confidentiality agreement.
Argument: The requested data no longer exists or cannot be retrieved without undue burden.
Example: "Slack data from 2019 was deleted pursuant to our 2-year retention policy before the duty to preserve arose. No backups exist."
Solution: Produce what's available; explain technical limitations in response letter.
Argument: The requested Slack data is not relevant to the claims or defenses in the case.
Example: Subpoena requests marketing team Slack channels in a product liability case involving engineering defects.
Solution: Narrow scope to relevant custodians/topics.
Before formally objecting, most jurisdictions require a good-faith effort to resolve disputes.
Schedule a meet and confer with requesting party:
Common compromises for Slack data:
Submit your written response to the subpoena by the deadline (or extended deadline if negotiated).
Your response should include:
Sample objection language:
"Responding party objects to Request No. 3 (all Slack messages for all employees from 2020-2025) as overbroad, unduly burdensome, and not proportional to the needs of the case under FRCP 26(b)(1). Specifically, producing all Slack data would require reviewing approximately 3.2 million messages at an estimated cost exceeding $200,000, which far outweighs the value of this matter. Responding party will produce Slack messages for the five custodians identified in plaintiff's initial disclosures for the period January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024, subject to and without waiving the foregoing objections."
Once scope is agreed (or ordered by the court), collect the Slack data.
Collection methods depend on your Slack plan:
What you'll receive:
CRITICAL: Preserve chain of custody. Document who collected data, when, how, and from where.
Raw Slack exports are unreadable JSON code. You need tools to process and review the data.
Processing steps:
Review tips for Slack data:
Produce the responsive, non-privileged Slack data in the agreed-upon format.
Common production formats:
Include with production:
Note: This is a typical 30-40 day timeline. Expedited subpoenas may require response in as little as 7-10 days.
Mistake: Waiting to preserve data until you've analyzed the subpoena or negotiated scope.
Consequence: If data is deleted after you receive the subpoena (even by automatic retention policies), you risk spoliation sanctions.
Fix: Implement legal holds on Day 1, before you do anything else.
Mistake: Exporting the entire workspace instead of targeted custodians/channels.
Consequence: Massive review costs, delayed production, exposure of irrelevant sensitive data.
Fix: Use filters when exporting (Enterprise Grid) or cull data immediately after export.
Mistake: Only producing public channel data because it's easier to export.
Consequence: Incomplete production, sanctions for failure to produce, adverse inference.
Fix: Request Compliance Export from Slack or use Discovery API (Enterprise Grid) to capture all communication types.
Mistake: Failing to document preservation, collection, and review steps.
Consequence: Opposing counsel challenges your methodology; court questions defensibility.
Fix: Create contemporaneous written record of every step: who did what, when, how, and why.
Mistake: Producing messages without timestamps, sender/recipient info, edit logs, or deletion records.
Consequence: Metadata can be critical evidence (proving when something was said, or that it was edited/deleted).
Fix: Use tools that preserve and surface Slack metadata (like ViewExport).
Mistake: Sending requesting party unprocessed Slack JSON exports.
Consequence: Opposing counsel complains data is unusable; court may order you to re-produce in readable format at your expense.
Fix: Process JSON into readable format (PDF, HTML, or native with load file) before production.
Mistake: Withholding privileged communications without documenting them.
Consequence: Waiver of privilege; court compels production.
Fix: Create detailed privilege log for every withheld communication: date, participants, subject, basis for privilege.
Mistake: Underestimating how long Slack data collection and review takes.
Consequence: Contempt of court, monetary sanctions, adverse inference instruction.
Fix: Start immediately; if you need more time, request extension BEFORE the deadline (with specific justification).
Responding to a Slack subpoena can be expensive. Budget for:
Total estimated cost for typical Slack subpoena response: $15,000-$100,000+
Costs vary dramatically based on:
In some cases, you may need to serve a subpoena directly on Slack (rather than collecting data yourself).
Slack requires formal legal process (subpoena, court order, search warrant) to disclose user data.
Where to serve:
Slack Technologies, LLC
c/o Slack Legal Team
500 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Email: legal@slack.com
What Slack requires:
What Slack produces:
Note: Slack will notify the workspace owner unless prohibited by law (e.g., criminal non-disclosure order).
Responding to Slack subpoenas requires specialized tools that most legal teams don't have.
Options:
This is where most legal teams struggle. Raw Slack JSON exports are unreadable without processing.
Options:
ViewExport is built specifically for legal teams responding to Slack data requests:
Typical workflow:
👉 Try ViewExport free to see how it handles Slack subpoena responses.
No. Ignoring a subpoena can result in contempt of court, monetary sanctions, and even criminal penalties. You must either comply or file objections by the deadline.
If data was deleted before you had a duty to preserve (before litigation was reasonably anticipated), you're generally not liable for spoliation. However, you must:
If data was deleted after the duty to preserve arose, you face serious spoliation risk.
Yes, if they're relevant to the case. Privacy settings in Slack don't create legal privilege. However, you can:
Typical timeline: 30-40 days from receipt to production. Factors affecting timeline:
It depends. Generally:
If you're on Free/Pro/Business+ plan and need private channel data:
Yes. Courts increasingly recognize that emojis and reactions convey meaning and can be relevant evidence. Include them in your production and preserve the visual context.
Strongly recommended. Subpoena compliance involves complex legal issues:
Mistakes can result in sanctions, waived privilege, or adverse outcomes. Consult counsel immediately.
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"text": "It depends. For your own litigation, each party bears its own costs. For third-party subpoenas, you can request reasonable costs from the serving party under FRCP 45(d)(1). For unduly burdensome requests, courts may shift costs or limit scope."
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"text": "If you're on Free/Pro/Business+ plan and need private channel data: (1) Submit Compliance Export request to Slack, (2) If denied, you may need to serve a subpoena on Slack Technologies Inc., (3) Upgrade to Enterprise Grid for direct API access if ongoing need."
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ViewExport helps legal teams quickly and affordably respond to Slack subpoenas:
Typical ViewExport workflow for subpoena response:
👉 Start your free trial or contact us to discuss your Slack subpoena response needs.
